Ash, Blood and a Tracksuit
by GinoThePizzamaker
Summary: The Fire has finally faded. An Unkindled's journey in one world is over, but not in another. Along with another lost soul, he must understand his purpouse. This is my first fanfic, so do report any quality problems. I hope you all enjoy.
1. Prologue

The battle had been progressing quickly, and the two combatants were starting to show the toll it had taken on their bodies. One of them was the Soul of Cinder, a powerful entity created by the souls of all the Lords of Cinder, called to protect the First Flame from whoever approached it.  
The whoever in question was an Unkindled, an Undead who had tried to link the First Flame, but, too weak to truly relight it, was burned to cinders, prolonging the Age of Fire by maybe a few minutes. This time, though, it was different. The nameless Unkindled had risen from his grave and left his mark on the world of Lothric, slaying the rebellious Lords of Cinder, Yhorm, Aldrich, the Abyss Watchers and Prince Lothric himself, taking their power and managing to fight toe-to-toe with the most powerful enemy he had ever faced. He liked his odds so far. The heavy armor he had took from one of the knights in the Cathedral of the Deep had served him extremely well on the way, his Drakeblood gauntlets and boots kept him moving with agility and grace, and his shield, stolen from a Lothric knight and infused with simple magic, protected him from many a deadly blow. However, no matter how much his armor protected him, he couldn't deny that he was in an uncomfortable situation. His Estus was running low and the lightning infused Lothric sword that had slain many a powerful creature seemed almost useless against his foe.  
The Soul of Cinder, weakened, had invoked the soul of the original Lord of Cinder, the Lord of Sunlight Gwyn. His moves had doubled in speed and power, and the Unkindled had to do everything in his power to keep him from ending the fight in one hit. Then, an opportunity. The Soul lunged forward with its hand, trying to grab its opponent, but in one graceful movement, the Unkindled rolled under the move and ended up behind it. Desperate, he two-handed his weapon and slashed maniacally at his foe, forcing it on his knees. And with one final blow, the Soul of Cinder fell back and started dissolving. To the Unkindled's surprise, his own body jumped forward and grabbed the Lord's helmet, wresting it from its head. He didn't have time to see what was under the helm, as the Cinder finally dissolved into ash. Silence fell on the battlefield. Almost in a trance, the Unkindled took off his helm, one he had took from a Silver Knight up in Anor Londo, and lowered the Lord's helmet on his head, feeling the fiery warmth that still engulfed it.

The battle was over, but his ordeal wasn't. He turned towards the Bonfire of the First Flame, and slowly walked towards it. He looked around it and found a white summon sign. One touch, and out of the ash came the Fire Keeper, who, after sparing a soft smile at her Champion, turned towards the Flame and delicately took it from its nest. Darkness immediately started engulfing the Kiln, and for the first time the Unkindled felt true fear. He was scared of the pure darkness that rapidly approached. He fell over and scuttled towards the Fire Keeper, who gently layed her hands on the knight's shoulders and her head on his own, comforting him without a word.

He closed his eyes, and immersed himself in the feeling of his Fire Keeper affectionately cuddling him.

As the Dark covered everything, he felt the touch leave him, but this time he didn't feel fear. Only a gentle warmth permeating his body. Hold on. Warmth? Darkness had conquered the world, how could there be warmth? He opened his eyes and was immediately blinded by a powerful light. With a muffled yell of surprise, he fell over once again. With one hand over his visor, he slowly opened his eyes, and what he saw astounded him. The Sun! Houses! People! And as he turned around he saw an incredibly confused boy in some sort of weird outfit. Something had gone very, very wrong. And he was somewhere he was not supposed to be. For the first time, although he had helped other Unkindled in the form of a Phantom, he was truly in another world.  



	2. Chapter 1

As his eyes accustomed to the wild light, the Unkindled quickly took to scanning his environment. He had died way too many times in unfamiliar environments to be careless about his surroundings. As he slowly rose to his feet he did a sweep of the area. He was in some sort of plaza, with a large obelisk in the middle. There seemed to be people, although some seemed distinctly beast-like, with bodies of men, and heads of various animals. He made a mental note to keep his distance. Dogs and wolves in particular did not hold a fond spot in his mind. Temporarily reassured of the safety of the nearby area, and accounting for the almost carefree atmosphere, the Unkindled wasted no time in checking his equipment. Armor? Check.  
Lighting sword? Check.

He methodically examined his gear, to see if everything was still there.

The loyal Astora Greatsword, who had always been his second choice in dire times? Check.

The small dagger imbued with the Chaos Flame, perfect for finishing stunned or unaware prey? Check.

Collection of smithing materials? Even if Andre was gone, and they served no practical purpouse anymore, he liked shiny things. Check.

Various miscellaneous utilities, such as resins, pellets and the Soapstones? Check.

The pouch full of Mossfruit? He had a small plant back at the Firelink Shrine. Very prolific, other than supplying him with useful berries, it made him happy to take care of something in the ruined world of Lothric. Check.

The small satchel that held his rings? He also controlled his fingers. Sun Princess, Chloranthy, Prisoner's Chain, and Favor. Check.

His magical catalysts? The Sunlight Talisman still radiated a faint glow, and the Witchtree Branch seemed stronger than the day it was cut. Snapping his fingers a few times, he brought forth the Pyromancy Flame. Nice and toasty. He was somewhat of a scholar, and held a surprising knowledge of magic, although mastery was far beyond his reach. Check.

Alright, that was it for equipment. First things first, where was he? Gathering information was his primary objective, but before even that, he was not alone. A young man, clad in some sort of heavy clothing and holding a small bag, was looking excitedly around. He seemed as much of a stranger in this place as much as the Unkindled.  
He walked up to the kid, and greeted him.

"Greetings young man, you seem quite the stranger here."

He opened in a slightly raucous voice. The kid seemed to be caught a bit off guard by his voice.

"Whoa, is this seriously another world? Who're you?"

The Ashen One recoiled a bit at the sudden question. Indeed, who was he? The curse of oblivion had claimed his past, and his name, like with so many other Undead along with him. He decided to dodge that question for now, and give the boy a vague response.

"You may call me Ash, for that is what my name is. Indeed, this seems to be another world, and we both do not belong here. Now, may I know your name, boy?"

"Natsuki Subaru, pleasure to meet you! Now, what happens next?"

"Natsuki Subaru, eh? Quite an unusual name, although I am no particular expert on that matter. I suggest pushing within the streets of this city, and get a hang of our surroundings."

"Very well, come on, keep up!"

The enthusiastic Subaru excitedly darted off, with the newly named Ash in tow. The new world dazzled both of them, and both saw things they never imagined possible. Beastmen, dragon-pulled carriages! Ah, the wonder. A guy even tried to sell them some kind of unknown fruit, reminding them of their moneylessness. This world, however, hid a darker side, that both would soon experience.

Their troubles began when three awfully dodgy men showed up in a narrow alleyway. One big, one short, one thin. They quickly made known their intentions.

"You, empty your pockets, now!"

Few words, but quite meaningful.  
Unwilling to draw attention to themselves already, Ash stepped forward and tried to pacify the thugs.

"Now then, let's get along, shall we? We'll go our way and you'll go yours, and there shall be no need for trouble"

His voice hardened a bit towards the end to drive his point home. Even Subaru, right behind him, looked thugs seemed intimidated, until the thin one pulled out a knife, and this reinvigorated the other two. With a sigh, Ash's hand started moving towards his sword's handle, but right then, to everyone's surprise, a small blonde girl landed on his helmet, gracefully leaped on Subaru's shoulders and disappeared. Suddenly imbalanced, Ash fell against the wall, hit his head and was knocked out cold. All four of them looked a bit confused at first, but then the thugs turned on Subaru with a sadistic grin on their faces.  
Suddenly, a cry rang out.

"What are you doing to those two?"

Everyone turned around to see a white-haired girl with pointed ears, looking quite angrily at the three goons.  
The three in question, seeing how the tables had turned on them, dashed away, leaving the white-haired girl, a confused Subaru and an unconscious Ash alone in the alleyway.

Ash woke with a start, feeling something quite soft under his head. Opening his eyes, he saw a giant cat head looking right back at him. He yelped and jumped to his feet, alarmed.

"What happened? Who are you?"

"He is Puck, my familiar."

The white-haired girl introduced the supposed spirit, who seemingly shrinked and sat itself comfortably on her shoulder.

"You two seem quite the strange couple, especially that boy."

The so-called Puck commented.

"My name is Natsuki Subaru, and this is my comrade Ash, at your service!"

Subaru announced with a flourish. Ash shrugged and gave a small bow.

"You seem in quite the rush, you didn't help us out of the kindness of your heart alone, didn't you?"

The girl was a bit taken aback at having her thoughts read, but rolled with it nonetheless.

"Something was stolen from me, something very important for that matter. I need to get it back by any means necessary."

Subaru eagerly jumped on this piece of information.

"We'll help you find it! Rest assured, we'll assist you in this endeavor!"

Ash spared a small glance at his companion, and understood the situation just by looking at his face. The kid was smitten, alright. He smiled to himself. Where did he learn to recognize that?

A couple of hours later, they were still firmly planted at square one. No leads, no clues, no emblem. What they did find, however, was a small child on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong, young girl? Can't find your parents?"

The girl had immediately changed her focus, so the two otherwordly associates had to as well. The child didn't answer, looking up at them fearfully. Understandable, as Ash wasn't used to masking his presence, also he was quite massive in his armor. The helm in particular would have been down-right terrifying. He decided to take matters into his own hands, squatting next to the child.

"Don't worry, little ember, we'll help you find them."

As he said this, he offered a piece of blooming moss, and the small girl took it, and lightly smiled at the hulking warrior. He picked up the kid and sat her on his shoulders, as to give her a vantage point.

"You point them out when you see them, eh?"

The child nodded. They looked around for about half an hour, when they heard the desperate voice of a woman.

"My daughter, have you seen my daughter? A small girl, she can't have gone far!"

"Mama!"

The kid pointed at her, and Ash silently approached her. The woman was overjoyed and thanked the group profusely. Ash simply nodded through the joyful rambling of the lady. On the way back, Subaru finally asked the white-haired girl for her name.

"Satella."

She simply answered. Hearing this, Puck gave her a weird look, which aroused some suspicion within Ash. She wasn't being truthful, but then, neither was he.

Time passed, and the search for the emblem brought them to the slums. It was late now, and the sun was going down. Asking around for information, they learned that the thief's name was Felt, and she lived close by. She often hung out at the nearby tavern, where she conducted her business.  
The trio knew that was where they would find her. Standing in front of the door, they tried knocking, but no one answered.

"Ok, so, Satella, stay here and keep an eye out. Me and Ash will investigate the interior. Fine?"

Subaru suggested. The other two nodded after a second. Subaru slowly opened the door, and with Ash guarding his rear, went in. It was dark inside, and there was an awfully pungent smell. Blood. Ash recognized that smell. He had felt it so many times, it was a constant during his travels. Subaru couldn't quite place it, but he saw Ash's tenseness and derived that it was nothing good. Silence. Then, a metallic sound. Pain. Subaru fell on the ground, and was greeted by the horrific spectacle of a large, gaping wound on his belly. Were those his guts? Turning around almost in a trance, he saw Ash crumple around his sword, embedded in the ground, and a large cloud of ash cascading from his armor.

*This is bad.*

"Subaru? Ash?"

Subaru was on the ground now, struggling to make a sound, to warn her of the imminent danger.

Another sound, and the hard thump of a body hitting the floor. A hand fell in a spot bathed by the sun's dying rays, her hand.

Oh no. No no no no.

Blood pooled around him, as he painfully moved his hand towards hers. His last thoughts were of her. Then, the dark shadow of oblivion caught him.

Natsuki Subaru was dead.  



	3. Chapter 2

"Hey kid, you gonna buy this appel or what?"

"H-huh?"

"The appel, kid. If you're not gonna buy it, then scram."

What? What happened? He was dead, cut open by an unknown attacker, disemboweled, and his comrade, too. Dead. Then why were they here?

They were both standing in front of a fruit stand, and a very annoyed man was telling them to leave. Subaru looked over his shoulder, and saw Ash looking right back at him.

"We better go, Subaru."

They quickly left. But Subaru had quickly caught on to what had happened. He was killed, but somehow he was teleported back to a previous moment in time, and the entire world had apparently reset to that point.

Ash had noticed Subaru's distress, and decided to investigate further.

"You don't look that good, something worrying you?"

"I don't know, we were in that tavern, then we found blood and then-"

"We were killed, weren't we?"

This sentence shocked Subaru. It appeared his comrade had the knack of reading minds.

"Yes, so it seems."

"We probably arrived too late. Something went very wrong, and a fight broke out. That's not a negative, though. Now we know we have at least one enemy. Great, I've been itching for a fight."

And itching he was. At first, he fought for necessity. Then, he fought for his cause. But in the end, he was fighting for fun. The rush of adrenaline that accompanied every major encounter, every flawlessly dodged move, the violent dance of a duel against insurmountable odds had intoxicated him.  
It had been a while since his last battle against the Soul of Cinder.

"Our white-haired friend will probably reach the tavern alone. She will not know us, but our objective is to eliminate any threats to her."

"She has a name, you know."

"Yes, but that is not her true one. I sense something quite... off, about that name."

"Why do you care so much, anyway? You seem quite apprehensive for her."

"She's an opportunity. She's something quite uncommon in this world. We might be able to exploit that to our gain."

Subaru recoiled. He didn't think his companion was that detached. Speaking of which.

"I remember something, before I died. When you were slain, ash fell out of your armor. What's up with that?"

"Do not ask questions that you may not like the answer. I might tell you, if I trust you enough. But until then, don't ask."

Ash was clearly very protective of himself, and wasn't afraid to act heartless.

They reached the tavern before sundown, and knocked on the door. A deep voice answered.

"Password?"

The two remained silent, preferring not to speak out of ignorance. As they stepped back, the thief appeared from behind a corner.

"Who are you two? Want to do business?"

"You have something we seek. And we will get our hands on it."

"You'll have to go through Rom before you hurt me. Let me in, old man."

After reciting a ridiculous password Ash couldn't be bothered to remember, the door finally opened. Behind it was what looked like a man, if a man was as big as the giant in the Undead Settlement.

"Pleasure as always, Felt. Who are those two punks?"

"They want to do business."

"Very well then, get in, but they'll have to wait until your other customer arrives."

They waited. Felt seemed to know the tavern owner personally. Finally, the door opened. A tall, slender woman in a rather revealing outfit slipped in.

Ash immediately took to observing her. Two swords, exotic design. Clearly meant slashing damage, and something told him they were quite effective in surprise attacks as well.

"Let's not waste any time, now. Lady, whatever your name is, what is your offer for the emblem in my possession?"

"You may call me Elsa. My buyer offers 20 holy coins."

While saying this, she plopped a fat sack of coins on the table before them.

"An impressive offer. What can you two offer?"

Ash put his hand on Subaru's chest, lightly pushing him back.

"In any world that is a meager offer indeed. I have no local currency, but what I have is worth certainly a lot more than that."

Ash proclaimed in a boastful tone, clearly enjoying himself.

"You getting cocky, man? That's gonna be your downfall, you know."

Elsa said in a slithering voice.

"Oh, I can back up my claims as good as anyone."

Saying this, he slammed something on the table, enclosed in his fist. As he slowly opened his hand, he left a very, very precious-looking blue gem.

"This is a Crystal Gem, which means not only is it shiny, if properly infused can lend its magic properties to a weapon. If that doesn't satisfy you..."

Another slam.

"For your viewing, a Chaos Gem. A remnant of a cursed flame, capable of devouring kingdoms. Now a spark, my own dagger is infused with it. Yes, it means I have multiple examples of each."

This sudden display of wealth caught everyone off guard. This nameless newcomer had just strolled in and displayed items even lords would kill to get.

Elsa let out a sigh, and leaned back.

"Ah well, it seems my buyer didn't expect this kind of stakes. I'm beat. If I may, what are you going to do with it?"

Subaru and Ash started speaking at the same time.

"Give it back to their ow-"

"None of your bus-"

They looked at each other in confusion. Meanwhile, Elsa's face had hardened.

"So you're with her, then."

Her hand slid towards her weapon, unnoticed by all but a seasoned warrior.  
In a lightning fast movement Ash grabbed the sack of coins while simultaneously blocking the upwards slash of the curved sword.

Everyone quickly jumped to their feet, and Ash and Elsa started circling each other. Felt, Subaru and Rom quickly put some distance between them and the two, sensing what was about to go down.

"I'm going to say this once. Attack anyone other than me, and I will kill you as brutally as I possibly can."

Ash declared while cheekily pocketing the coins.

"Oh, I don't mind. I'm actually a big fan of gore, especially when it's my opponents guts sliding out of their belly!"

Finishing her sentence, she started a flurry of attacks, however this first combo was easily intercepted by Ash's shield, which he had pulled out during their brief confrontation.

Going on the offensive, Ash extracted the mighty Astora Greatsword. He knew that the sheer size of the weapon put him at a disadvantage in the somewhat small fighting area, but at this point he just wanted to show off.

He opened with a short string of two-handed lunging attacks, like he was handling a spear, assisted by the lightweight properties of the weapon, before executing two massive overhead swings.

Elsa easily dodged, but that was to be expected. Ash knew that slow and large weapons fared badly against highly mlbile threats. He also knew that everyone fought in a precise manner, using defined movesets. The only ones who didn't were rabid beasts, but they were never much of a problem. This being said, Ash wanted to learn her moveset as fast as possible.

The female assassin dashed ahead with a broad lateral swipe, loudly carving a dent in Ash's armor. She looked up at him with a gleeful smile.

"Good hit, good hit, now's my turn."

Ash finished this sentence with a quick sucker punch to Elsa's jaw, following up with one of the moves he had learned along the way: Gundyr's shoulder charge. She careened backwards, stunned from the impact.

That must have hurt. To finish it all off, a stomp forward, taking care to step on her kneecap and painfully slide to her ankle, topped with a skyward swing that, even lacking the destructive ppwer of the heavier greatswords this technique originated from, carved a long bloody valley up her torso.

Nice.

The assassin stumbled backwards, but didn't go down yet. The damage dealt had took a massive toll on her body though. She was clearly starting to show desperation.

"Next time, your guts will be all over the floor!"

She dashed forward, both swords to her side in a cleaving maneuver. Efficient move in a surprise scenario, but just plain foolish here. The fight was over.

In one fluid movement, Ash impaled his greatsword into the ground next to him, bouncing the first sword off harmlessly.  
He raised his shield, and with impeccable timing, shot out his arm, perfectly parrying the blow and throwing the sword out of Elsa's hand.

The blade flew across the room and dug itself into the wall. Ash meanwhile picked up the greatsword and started slowly walking towards his prey, dramatically dragging the oversized blade behind him.

Then, the door opened and a familiar, bewildered face entered.

"What's going on here?"

Elsa immediately changed target, and before Ash could react, flung herself towards the half-elf. Ash knew he wouldn't get there in time.

He didn't have to, though. Subaru had grabbed a table leg and valiantly thrown himself between the two women, blocking the fatal blow and giving Ash enough time to react. Too bad he didn't get the chance.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge explosion sent all of them flying. And a new contender stepped through the wreckage.

"Who the hell are you? Why are there so many interferences all of a sudden?"

Ash yelled from under a fallen piece of wall.

"My name is Julius, and I have appeared to just saved the day once again."

"Like hell. I had that fight in the palm of my hand the entire time."

While the two warriors argued, the wounded Elsa took this chance to escape.

"You haven't seen the last of me, I swear!"

Then she disappeared through a hole in the roof. And that was it. Julius helped a very annoyed Ash out of the debris. The warrior in question took his time examining and finally pocketing the remaining sword, before turning to the half-elf.

"You, white-haired girl, what's your name? No tricks this time."

"My name's Emilia, why do you think I would pull something?"

"Ah, ignore that. Most importantly, you lost this, didn't you?"

Ash held out a hand, and offered the emblem.

"My emblem! How did you know?"

"Just a hunch."

Emilia then turned to Subaru.

"Emilia, eh? That's a beautiful name, I'll tell you that!"

"Why did you save me? You don't even know me!"

"Do I need a reason to save a life?"

Subaru started chuckling, then burst into a fountain of blood, dripping from a long, slender wound running along his chest. It seemed he didn't quite block the blow completely.

Everything slowed down.

The dread mounting in Emilia's eyes.

Her mouth slowly opening in a silent scream.

Ash's faceless helm turning towards him.

Then everything went dark. 


	4. Chapter 3

Black. Just black. Soft. Soft?

Subaru opened his eyes.

"Rem, Rem, it seems our guest has awakened."

"Ram, Ram, he's looking at us."

Not quite correct. Subaru was still waking up from his slumber, and was blindly gazing ahead. When he actually regained vision, though, he was quite delighted.

Maids!

Two of them, in fact. One pink-haired, and one blue-haired. Sisters? Probably. Attractive. Hell yeah.

"Oh, so this world has maids too, eh? This situation just got so much better!"

Subaru exclaimed with a somewhat lecherous grin. Then his mind immediately wandered off to more heart-racing thoughts.

"Rem, Rem, he's imagining lewd things!"

"Ram, Ram, he's undressing us in his mind!"

Then, to Subaru's purer joy, Emilia walked in and beckoned him to follow her. He obeyed and followed her to the entrance. He exited what looked like a giant mansion, although he could describe it as a castle, for all he knew.

In the meadow in front of the mansion, Ash could be seen refining his moves, gracefully swinging his greatsword and poking with his dagger in a style he had learned from the Abyss Watchers.

After he finished up with a particularly long and flashy combo involving lots of flips, he quickly jogged over to the two. Subaru unconsciously noticed the man did not show any kind of fatigue, even after those incredible moves.

"Subaru, I see you're in shape. Three days of sleep did you good."

"He's been actually quite worried, you know. He always stayed by your side."

Subaru was both surprised and comforted knowing that the knight had always stayed with him.

"Now that Subaru's awake, and seeing that lunchtime is near, I believe we can finally talk. Roswall, the owner of the mansion, will join us as well."

They met in the dining room. The two maids had already prepared a feast, and everyone took their seats. Then, a tall man with a lot of extravagant face paint sauntered in with a breezy demeanor.

"Who asked for a jester?"

Subaru asked with a confused look plastered on his face.

"That jester is Lord Roswall, and you are in his seat."

Ash observed bemusedly as expressions of dread, realization and bewilderment fought for the dominion of Subaru's facial features. Roswall looked amused as well, and paid no mind to the boy's unknowing disrespect.

The kid seemed harmless enough, but the knight sitting opposite him intrigued the lord.

"You can take off your helmet, you know, sir?"

"Name's Ash. Do I have to?"

"Oh, I'm sure everyone's just titillating to see the face of the noble knight that sent Emilia's would-be assassin packing!"

Ash sighed, disliking Roswall's flattery, and finally took off his helm, placing it in front of him on the table. When he raised his head, he caught everyone by surprise. He had a normal enough face, a long black beard and a moustache. Long matted black hair covered his head.

What really caught everyone's eye were the giant bags under his eyes. It looked like he hadn't slept in years. Yet he didn't give off a tired aura, instead looking vibrant and attentive. At some point, Puck had appeared.

"You look quite trashed, I'll tell you that."

"Now you can all stop gawking. Let's get down to business. Lord Roswall, I am sure we can do something to repay our debt."

"My, my, what debt could you possibly be talking about?"

"What do you mean? We've been here three days, without repaying anything. I don't like feeling like a leech."

"Oh, but you are guests! Do not worry yourself! Besides, what you did is worth much more than three days of rest."

"And what did we do? I'm actually confused here, Sir."

"No need for the Sir, just call me Roswall. What you two did, was save royalty!"

Both Subaru and Ash's jaws dropped. They turned around to look at a bashful Emilia. Ash couldn't quite process the information for a few seconds, but Subaru had him covered.

"Royalty? Emilia, you're royalty?"

"Not yet. Lugnica is currently kingless, and I am one of the candidates to succeed the throne. The emblem was my proof to have a chance at calming the turmoil this kingdom is going through."

"You two have done a great service to the kingdom, and to my liege. Whether you acknowledge this or not, this is what you did. A few nights in my home are not nearly enough to express my gratitude."

"I swear that I will do anything in my power to repay my debt to you two."

Ash and Subaru took that in quietly.

"Any reward, you say?"

Subaru's sudden change of tone drew Ash's attention. So he had a side like that as well. Every age, it seems, is tainted by the greed of man, an old friend had told him. He was righter than he thought. Emilia seemed slightly uncomfortable.

"Y-Yes. Anything I can do."

"Well then. I desire to be employed at this mansion as a servant."

Ash's eyebrow skyrocketed upwards. He misjudged him. Didn't happen that often anymore. The two maids perked up, and started paying attention as well. It seemed two extra pair of hands weren't disliked in this place.

"I'll go with that too. A stable position at the mansion is sufficient for me."

Emilia was dumbfounded.

"Are you sure? Puck is a really powerful spirit, you know?"

"I can make you both very rich men, if you willed it."

"The chance to see my beloved Emilia every day trumps any kind of monetary gain!"

"Money does not concern me, don't worry."

Roswall clapped his hands in delight.

"Well then, starting tomorrow, you are both servants in the Roswall household! You may take your time to familiarize with your new working environment."

"Very well."

The two maids wasted no time explaining their duties to the two newly appointed butlers. They decided Ash would handle kitchen business and the gardening, and Subaru would be responsible of cleaning the mansion and miscellaneous tasks.

All in all, quite well. But their troubles were not quite over. They had not earned the maids' trust yet, and not Roswall's completely.

The two were walking along one of the many corridors of the household.

"Ash, what do you think of Lord Roswall?"

Ah, an expected question.

"I'll be honest, I don't like him very much. He looks way too unpredictable and I sense he has the power to be a serious threat if we anger him. Emilia is just a naive girl. Innocent, but she'll get killed quickly if no one watches her back."

"That's quite a brutal judgement."

"Brutal was my everyday. I've seen things that would drive anyone insane. I don't know, maybe I've gone insane myself."

"You gonna tell more?"

"Alright, just a bit about my past. I hail from the forlorn land of Lothric, a dying kingdom forever covered in ash. I admit, I contributed to some of it myself. In my world, there is a great Flame. It keeps the world alive, but periodically it fades. I tried to relight it, but failed, and from that day I am known as Unkindled."

"How does one rekindle the Flame?"

"The Flame requires an immense amount of souls, and a powerful rekindler. If one succeeds, they become a Lord of Cinder. Entire eras pass between one rekindling and the next. It's a long process, and as you may imagine, it takes a toll on the Flame. It just grew weaker and weaker. In the end, I was forced to extinguish it. What happened after that I do not know."

Ash looked sorrowful as he told this story. In his own way, he missed that twisted, wicked world. It was familiar. Subaru sighed.

"In my world, I was nobody. A failure of a life. Nothing quite as epic as you. When I came here I thought, maybe I'd have purpouse. Now, it seems like I found it."

While they were talking, they went through a door, and found themselves in a library. What they found therein was a small, blonde, drill-haired, very annoyed lady.

"Two questions. Who are you, and how did you get in this room?"

Subaru was on her with astonishing speed.

"Oooh, they have lolis in this world too? Awww, look at you, so cute! And look at this hair!"

The "loli" in question beared this shower of attention for precisely five seconds before unleashing an invisible force, which shot Subaru straight out of the room and the window opposite it. He landed heavily in the garden, by the sound of it.

The lady then turned to Ash, who already had raised his hands in a sheepish manner, calming her anger, at least temporarily.

"As I said, who are you and how did you get here?"

"Name's Ash, the new butler. That was my colleague Subaru. Sure you haven't killed him?"

"How did you get in here?"

"Through the door?"

She raised her hand once again.

"Easy, easy, I don't want any trouble."

"Weird, I don't sense any mana from you. Come closer."

As Ash drew closer, Beatrice put her hand on his chest, and tried to scan his mana. Tried, but there was no mana there. It was just empty, like she had tried to examine a corpse.

Beatrice was taken aback by what she had discovered.

"What?"

"N-Nothing, just, get out of here before I throw you out like that idiot."

Ash took her word for it, gave a dignified bow, to which she replied with a quick nod, and scuttled the library.

This was bad. She was suspicious. Suspicion led to questions. Questions led to truth. But in this case the truth could very well ruin him. Being Undead was common, but it was no blessing. The other Undead had told him tales of fear and hatred. The living did not take well to the dead masquerading as them.

He knew that eventually it would break out, but until then, he had to stall his fate.


	5. Penmaster's Note

This is a note to properly check if the story is going well. I hope my random upload schedule does not throw anyone off. Use this small note to tell me if there is anything wrong with the story so far, such as pacing or anything like that.

I do appreciate every one of you and taking the risk of following this story. Have a good day. 


	6. Chapter 4

Fate is a mysterious thing indeed. How it operates, no one knows. One thing that is known, however, is that fate has a quite cruel sense of humor.

When Ash joined the others at the dinner table in the evening, the atmosphere was tense. Something was definitely up.

In front of his seat was a large mug of beer. Roswall was looking up expectanctly at him. Subaru meanwhile, was having a bit of dirt brushed off him by Emilia.

"Please, noble knight, drink up. It's a special household brew. I decided it was a special occasion after all."

Ash eyed the beer suspiciously. Subaru and Emilia had noticed the growing tension between the two men. Ash grabbed the mug and took a long swig from it.

"Quite good, master Roswall."

"Yes? Tell me, what did it taste like?"

Ash froze. This was unexpected. He started to feel a sense of dread run up his spine.

"Like a good beer?"

Ash said in a hushed, but still audible tone.

"Really? Because I had Ram mix a whole spoon of salt in there, and earlier Beatrice told me you had no mana on you at all. You see, every living being has mana. One could say one needs mana to live. What are you, Ash?"

The room had gone dead silent. Ash put down the mug gently, slowly moving his other hand towards his dagger.

"We can compromise. You give me a minute to get my stuff and I'll get out of your hair."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Ram's steely cold voice came from behind his shoulder. His hand paused.

"Nobody is about to go nowhere, Ash, if that is even your name. You are going to answer any question I have. And I have just one. What are you?"

Ash sighed and lowered his hand, curling it into a fist on the table.

"I..."

He lowered his head too.

"... am Undead."

Silence. He slowly peeked upwards towards the others to observe their reactions. He was met by looks of confusion.

"What? Undead? What do you mean?"

"I am a dead man, brought back to life time and time again in an effort to rekindle a flame. I am nameless, but ash is what I am."

Seeing as everyone was clearly skeptical, he opted for a more drastic course of action. He quickly drew his dagger, and before anyone could make a move, planted it deeply in his chest, so deep it poked out from the other side, skewering himself.

He waited for the usual reaction of confusion. His company was usually Undead, so that wasn't uncommon. He was surprised by everyone's face paling and fear mounting in their eyes.  
Even Roswall seemed taken off guard, and Ram behind him took a step back.

He ripped the blade out of himself, and put it back in its sheath.

"Need any more proof?"

"You're... You're not even bleeding."

"No, indeed I am not."

"What are you?"

Surprisingly, Roswall seemed agitated.

"I told you, I am Undead. I mean no harm, and only intend to repay my debt."

Emilia was the one to recover first.

"That's not the first time I hear of Undead, but never like you."

"I'm a special kind, Unkindled. My fate is to forever die and rise from my own ash, until my duty is completed. And what a duty it is. I'll tell you, it gets mostly annoying after a while."

"You must have faced a lot to get here."

"Oh, quite. Some of my battles you'd accuse me of lying flat out."

Ash sat back in his chair.

"As I said, my Undead condition is nothing you should worry about. I intend to continue working here and serve, unless you want me gone, which I understand."

In the end, nothing happened and they all coped with his Undead status. Some, like Emilia, Subaru and the maids, didn't care. Puck was especially intrigued. Roswall however, wasn't as enthusiastic.

The following day, the maids started directing the two in their jobs. Ram was pleased to have some help in the kitchen, especially from the efficient Ash. He was especially good with knives, but wasn't that bad with spices and such, despite his lack of sense of taste.

The distant crash of pottery in the distance sufficed to make clear Subaru's progress.  
Needless to say, Ash was clearly preferred by Rem and Ram as working companion.

Ash walked out of the kitchen to see Subaru gingerly picking up the pieces of o

"Hand it over, Subaru, I'll take care of it."

Ash picked up the pieces and placed them in a small sack, seemingly pulled out of nowhere. The maids were awestruck by this trick that the Undead pulled off regularly. No matter how big, he always seemed to have the right tool for the job right in his pocket.

Quite interestingly, the tools he had were also tools that had gone missing prior. The sisters didn't question it, however, as he didn't have any motive to sell or keep anything. He was sort of like a mobile toolbox.

Gardening, however, was a bit harder for the poor Unkindled. Used to swinging massive blades, and even though he was growing his Mossfruit in his room, he had trouble with the concept of shears. Something about them confounded him. Mossfruit requires no pruning, as it is a naturally growing bush. So naturally, he opted for the scythe he had found in the Undead Settlement to trim the hedges. Small details were completely beyond his reach, much amusing the maids as he struggled to cut off tiny leaves.

Subaru had started to show an interest in magic. Apparently his world did not have magic, and he was fascinated by it. He had asked Beatrice to teach him, but Ash decided to involve himself with the process.

After much coercing and convincing, Subaru managed to get Beatrice to guide him along this path. Ash had other plans in mind, and decided to teach him "real" magic, the magic he knew.

"Your affinity seems to be Yang, so basically you are more specialized in slowing down and confusing your enemies."

"Who needs this affinity garbage? Trust me, kid, the only things you'll need to get good in magic are your intelligence, and your faith, depending on what kind of magic you want to specialize in."

"That's not how it works at all! Every type of magic has its own element associated with it, and affinity is key to unders-"

"So magic is just throwing rocks and water around? Subaru, listen to me. Magic is divided into three categories: Sorceries, Pyromancies and Miracles. Now, they all have diff-"

"What the hell are those supposed to be? All spells are the same, some are more powerful than others, but affinity only projects the user towards them!"

Why don't we test it out then? Your magic against mine, which is better?"

"I'll take you up on that, you arrogant bastard."

The two moved to the meadow in front of the house, with an awfully confused Subaru in tow.

"Take some real magic, you armored twat!"

Beatrice opened up with a powerful Flame Arrow, but that was easily dodged by her opponent.

He pulled out a long stick, and murmured a few words. He then pointed the stick at Beatrice, unleashing a barrage of Farron Darts.

The librarian was surprisingly quick at conjuring a magic shield to protect herself.  
Then, she fired that powerful airblast Subaru painfully remembered.

For the first time, she noticed Ash had a small shield on his arm. He raised it, and in the blink of an eye, batted the spell aside.

He put the stick away, and with a few snaps, brought up the Pyromancy Flame. Activating the spell, he bent backwards, as if inhaling a tremendous amount of air, before blowing out a large cloud of purple gas.

She instinctively knew what was in that cloud. Poison. She dashed backwards to avoid the gas, but did not anticipate what happened next. Ash had placed the gas cloud as a smokescreen, and had brought out his branch again. He started channeling the most powerful spell he knew.

The cloud dissipated, and Beatrice was welcomed by the sight of the Undead finishing channeling the spell, and firing a powerful Soul Stream in her direction.  
Even her shield visibly buckled under the sheer power of the spell. She fell backwards.

Ash was in no better shape. That spell had conpletely drained him, and for the life of him he couldn't find that Ashen Estus Flask. He frantically searched around, found it, and took a large swig of it.

Beatrice, however, was done playing. She had started channeling a powerful spell as well, which she knew would have ended up in a smoking crater with Ash's, well, ashes all around it. Too bad she never got the chance.

With enough focus for one last spell, he brought up his Sunlight Talisman and rushed to her. She began channeling even faster. She was just about to fire when-

"Vow of Silence."

Boom.

All that mana, gone. She felt as if her own life force was cut off. She collapsed on the ground, wheezing. So that was the effect on the living, Ash mused. It wasn't painful, but it was certainly the closest one could feel to death.

"Neat little trick, eh? Shuts annoying spellcasters down easily. Shuts down my own spells as well, but you know, that's not my only option."

And with that, he bopped Beatrice on the head with his hand.

"If this had been a real fight, you'd be dead now. It's my win."

Beatrice stood up weakly.

"You arrogant piece of-"

"Now, now, don't be salty."

She begrudgingly accepted her loss. Clearly her pride had took a bit of a stumble. Meanwhile Subaru was watching from the sidelines.

"When you're done, can you teach me actual magic, or what?"

Oh, right. 


	7. Chapter 5

Two days had passed. Quietly, life had continued like normal. Subaru was getting better at his job, and Ash was turning into quite the essential part of the household.

Subaru, however, had other thoughts. He had realized that he did not know the local language. He could communicate just fine with words, but written texts were illigible to him. He talked to Ash about it.

"Ash, you got a moment?"

"Sure, friend, what do you need?"

"I've come to notice that neither of us actually knows the written language of this place."

"True. We can't last long without knowing it. Eventually we must leave this mansion and our ignorance might slow us down."

They decided to ask the maids for help.

"Need help for reading, then, Barusu? I guess I might do that, if only for pity. Ash, do you want to join him?"

"I'd appreciate that, thanks."

Subaru wasn't quite happy with the difference in Ram's tone.

"Ash, why is she only condescending with me and not with you?"

"Genuinely no clue, lad."

He accompanied this with a chuckle. Subaru decided to let it slide. He wasn't a grudge keeping person anyway.

That night, Rem was the one awaiting them in Subaru's room. She had decided to start teaching them with a children's story about two ogres. It told the tale of a red ogre who was feared by the inhabitants of the village who he wanted to befriend. Desperate, he asked his blue ogre friend to help him. The blue ogre terrified the village, and had the red ogre chase him away and save the people. The red ogre had finally gained the trust of the villagers, but at the cost of his friend, who was forced to leave and never see him again.

"What do you think, Subaru?"

"It's a nice story, friendship that holds strong and sacrifices itself."

"I think it's quite stupid. The red ogre didn't have to pay the price for what he wanted, while the blue ogre sacrificed everything for his friend."

She turned to Subaru with a serious expression.

"I want to know what you think. Would you rather make others pay the price for your desires, or would you sacrifice yourself for theirs?"

She held out two fingers.

"An insustainable answer. You can't just choose both."

Subaru grinned over his hands, firmly gripping both her fingers.

"It's the right choice though."

"Sooner or later you'll have to pick a side, though. Or you'll get crushed in between. Ash? What do you think?"

"I don't doubt that was his right choice. And it is, at least for you. I'd go with option two, nonetheless. I'm used to sacrificing myself, so if I can do it for someone I trust, where's the problem?"

Rem was stumped. Again, his Undead status showed itself. She had understood that it was not just like a disease. It was his way of life.

"Then again, for you living folk, it's a whole other story. You have one life, and as I see it, my comrade here intends to live it helping others. I can't see how that would be a bad thing, and neither can you. If you can't choose both sides, you make your own."

The night passed, and the Sun rose, bathing the world in its light.

Alright, what were today's chores? Subaru had gone with Rem down to the village to buy groceries. Ash noticed the empty pedestal where the vase the clumsy kid had broken had been. With care, he took it out of his pocket and gently placed it back. The maids would be quite surprised to say the least. Repair powder was quite the thing, but now he had only two pouches left of it. He'd never seen the usefulness of it. He noticed Roswall down the hall, gesturing for him to come with him. He rushed to his side.

"Lord Roswall, orders?"

"I have something that may interest you. Something better fitted for you than mere gardening and cooking."

"Don't flatter me. I don't know what you're scheming, but I don't like it."

"Oh, but you will. Say, does the position of personal knight intrigue you?"

A few hours later, Rem and Subaru were back, carrying a very heavy looking sack. Well, Subaru was carrying it, and he almost looked like he was being flattened by it.

Ash looked on amusedly, then stepped in to help him. Less amusingly, the sack was as heavy as it looked. His natural strength wasn't almost enough, but it turned out, one of the perks of being Undead was freaky carrying strength. Somehow he could carry all his arsenal at once without any problems. It had its limits, though. He had tried putting his heaviest equipment on all at once. He could barely move a step. Patches had laughed himself silly. Good times. He carried the behemoth to the kitchen, followed by an embarrassed Subaru and a smiling Rem. She thought it was quite funny, apparently.

"Oh, come on. Is everyone an olympic weight lifter?"

Ash didn't know what 'olympic' meant, but he assumed it was quite important.

"Subaru, what's that mark on your hand?"

"This? A dog bit me in the village. No problem, man. I'm tougher than I look!"

"Then again, that was a puppy."

Rem giggled as she said this.

Right. Meanwhile, the maid had noticed the vase.

"Didn't Subaru break that vase?"

"He did, indeed."

"I recall you picked up the pieces. Did you fix it?"

"I did, indeed."

"Well, call me impressed. Another skill you hid from us."

"Indeed."

Ash flashed a grin her way, before slamming the sack on the kitchen floor.  
Did the pavement just tremble? Poor Subaru, carrying this uphill from the village.

Poor kid. He seemed quite tired, in fact. Paler than usual. Was he getting sick? Just then, Emilia passed them. She noticed the giant sack and the panting Subaru.

"Did you carry this by yourself, Subaru? Good job!"

Subaru visibly perked up, and flashed his signature grin. He rapidly glanced next to him, where Ash gave him a quick nod of approval.

"Nothing too difficult, if I do say so myself!"

Emilia giggled, sending Subaru's heart in another rush. God, he really was smitten.

"That's what I wanted to hear! Keep up the good work!"

She chirped, then contentedly walked away. Ash had to poke Subaru a few times before he woke from his trance. Rem wasn't as enthusiastic.

"I just noticed, it's been a few days. I suggest you take a bath, before you start to stink like a dead pig."

Ash chuckled at her crass remark, and at the kid's reaction of immediately checking himself.

"Care to join me, Ash? You know where the bath is."

Indeed, he knew. The four hours he had spent cleaning the damn place had engraved it in his memory well enough. He guided Subaru to it.

They walked in and took off their clothes, before settling in the warm water. Subaru clearly approved.

"I needed this so much, Ash, you wouldn't even know."

He said as he slowly slid until only his head was out of the water. He took a moment to inspect Ashs body. Quite muscular, like a warrior should be, and marked with scars throughout. The main detail Subaru was interested in was the glowing circle on his chest.

"What's that? On your chest."

"Ah, this? This is my Dark Sign. It's something all Undead possess. You could say it's our lifeline. Every time we die, we are reborn at a bonfire. But mine is special. You see, I am a brand of Undead known as Unkindled. We are born to relight the First Flame."

"You already told me. What separates you from normal Undead?"

"Undead go through a process as time passes. They slowly lose their humanity, memories and personality and become a rabid, mindless beast. We call them Hollow. Unkindled don't suffer from that, given our great cause. Now that the Flame is out, will I go Hollow as well?"

"I... I don't know. All we can do is hope, eh?"

"You're right. No need to get worried now. I still have a lot of fight in me!"

Afterwards, they separated in front of Subaru's room.

"You have a good night's rest, eh, Subaru? I'll keep watch of the mansion for tonight."

"I'd say the same to you, but whatever suits your fancy. Good night, man."

Ash was slightly worried about Subaru. He looked even paler, and more haggard. Perhaps it was just a trick of the moonlight. At least he hoped.

Subaru was feeling good. A bit cold, maybe, but nothing a good night's rest couldn't fix. He climbed under the covers, and with a sigh, slipped off into a deep sleep.

A few hours later, he was dead.

Ash could feel it. The small soul that had wafted over to him was Subaru's. He turned around to see the world covering in dark mist, and he could see nor feel no more.

He woke in his room, with sunlight streaming in from the window. Something had killed Subaru that night.

He wouldn't be too happy.


	8. Chapter 6

And happy he wasn't. Ash recognized Subaru's shriek of confusion.

"Rem, Rem, is our guest afraid of us?"

"Ram, Ram, I'm confused as well."

Subaru was dumbfounded. What had happened? What killed him? What had gone wrong?

These and multiple confused and incoherent thoughts rushed through his head.

Ash! Ash would remember! But then what did it mean? Someone or something had killed him. He started to calm down and think rationally. Someone was out to get him, and what stopped them from killing the other inhabitants of the mansion?

It seemed he only had the disadvantages of an Isekai protagonist such as those he watched back in the other world. He surprised himself? The other world? He was born there! But it just went to show how much he wanted to escape the sad and lonely fate that awaited him there.

Enough of those thoughts. He rubbed his head tiredly and looked up. Another set of problems arose. The maids were glaring at him with a look of suspicion and diffidence. He instantly felt drained of all his strength. Someone was out to get them, but they would even consider him a suspect. Damn it! He'd even got a smile from Ram the other day. Now she was looking at him like a stranger, which he admittedly was.

The door opened, and Emilia entered, escorted by Ash.

"You've finally woken up! You've slept for three days straight, I was getting worried! Come with me, I'll introduce you to the rest of the house."

Ash remained mute, staring at Subaru. As Emilia left the room he turned wordlessly and followed her. He knew.

Subaru slipped out behind her and trailed next to Ash. He shot a glance at him. Ash was already looking at him, and they locked eyes for a moment. He knew, indeed. The knight gestured to keep silent, and Subaru quickly caught on. They would discuss it later. They were brought to Roswall's table, and the discussion went as it did four days prior.

This time, however, Ash and Subaru decided to swap roles. Ash wanted this opportunity to scout out the village and identify any threats.

Ash was met by the same mug of beer, but now that he knew the trick, he passed the test.

"It's salty. Did someone spill the whole damn salter in here?"

His Undead status now was safely concealed once again.

The days went by like a blur. Rem was quite surprised by their somewhat fluid understanding of the language, given their story as foreigners. Finally, the critical day arrived.

It was by no means a large village, quite small in fact. But Ash could see why the mansion relied on its resources. He could see a wide pavemented road, and that meant rich commercial trades. A nice quiet place to make nice quiet trades. But with its anonymity, came problems as well. The place had a noticeable lack of security.

"This town is a bit exposed, isn't it?"

"It's too small to be of importance to the capital. It just isn't worth sending soldiers over. It isn't defenceless, however. A barrier has been established to keep monsters away."

"Passive defences never work. Believe me, I know."

The ruin on the High Wall was enough to convince him.

The kids in the village instantly took interest in the newcomer, flocking to him like rats to a fresh corpse.

"Hey mister, you new around here?"

"You're with the scary maid?"

"You don't look so tough!"

Ash was mystified by this sudden flood of attention. He never had anything to do with kids. He had never even seen one in his travels. Indeed, his was not a world for children. One of the children, a small girl, brought a small black dog.

He instinctively grimaced at the sight. He hated dogs with a passion. They were annoying, persistent and could not be ignored. The puppy reacted as well, baring its underdeveloped teeth. Small, but when the damn mutt lunged and bit his hand, quite painful for their size.

He very nearly snapped the pest's neck. He only restrained himself for the children. No need to ruin his public image so soon. The little beast had left a small mark on his hand. He ignored it.

"Sorry, sir, he's not usually that aggressive..."

"It's nothing. Just keep that thing away from me."

Despite his efforts, he couldn't mask the sheer contempt he felt. Damned dogs.

Upon returning to the mansion with the heaviest thing he'd carried since the Havel Knight's armour, they found Subaru to greet them with a grin.

"You, uh, need any help?"

Ash only gave a cold stare, then nodded, throwing the abnormous mass on the kid, very nearly squashing him flat. He knew it was worse for him, but the dog had put him in a bad mood. Also that grin didn't help.

The day went past like usual. That evening, instead of learning to read and write with Rem, they discussed the events that had transpired.

"You think someone's out to get you?"

"It has to be. People don't just die randomly like that."

"And you're scared that they might go after our friends over here?"

"Yeah! I mean, what stops them from just wiping out the whole mansion while everyone's asleep?"

"Well, maybe I can convince Beatrice to let you stay in the library. It's the safest place I can think of. Turns out it's actually in another plane of reality or something like that."

"Won't she just blast you out?"

"Don't worry. I'm in good relations with her."

"How do you even do that? Ugh, forget that, I have a favor to ask of you."

"You want me to protect the mansion while you hide?"

"One, ow, my pride. Two, yeah, pretty much."

"That was my plan all along, friend. Don't worry about the others, you just keep yourself alive."

"Thanks. I really appreciate it."

"Oh, I know. Believe me, I do."

Ash rose to leave, but Subaru stopped him.

"Ash, stay safe."

"Nothing can kill me, mate. Except if I don't see it coming! Hahaha!"

With a raucous laugh, Ash exited the room, leaving Subaru alone with his thoughts. Half an hour later, a fuming Beatrice entered, accompanied by a beaming Ash.

"I'll let you stay, but only one night! Only one, you hear me?"

"Thanks, Beako. I mean it."

"Whatever."

As Subaru settled in for the night, he discovered he couldn't sleep. Feelings of mostly dread chased their way around his mind. What if someone made it in the library? What if someone managed to get the drop on Ash? What if someone else was hurt?

Meanwhile, Ash was patrolling the halls, with his Lothric sword sheathed at his side. Then, Rem appeared.

"Do you know where Subaru is? He's not in his room."

"No clue, lass. Sorry, I'll keep an eye out. Why do want to know?"

"None of your business."

With a withering remark, she walked down the corridor and out of sight. Ash sighed, and resumed his patrol.

The next day, everyone reconvened at the dining table. Ash was making small talk with Ram while serving breakfast, even pulling off a chuckle from her. Rem was wordlessly laying down the silverware, while Subaru layed down the plates.

"So what happened when you met that big knight in the chamber?"

"Bit embarrassing to say out loud, lass, but I skirted around him and ran screaming like a scared cat."

"You must be joking!"

"That's my scared side for you! Still, I don't recall that all that fond-"

He cut himself off with a heavy cough, hacking into his hand. When he lowered it, blood was on it.

"Ash?"

He suddenly felt cold. Oh gods, not this again. He had only experienced this feeling a couple of times, but he knew what it was.

He dropped the tray with the food on the table with a loud bang, before stumbling back in a series of hacks and wheezes.

"Ash?!"

Ram dropped hers as well, rushing to his side with a horrified expression on her face and a look of sheer terror in her eyes.  
A curse. A damn curse, even in this world.

He managed to splutter out, in between mouthfuls of blood that was now dripping from his entire body.

"A...curse...agh..."

Shivering from the excruciating amount of pain he was feeling, he unsheathed his sword.

"Su...ba..."

He weakly pointed it at him. Then, he drew one last, pained breath and looked at the sky. He grew still. Then, an enormous amount of black crystals erupted from within him, spattering copious amounts of blood on everything close to him.

Ram staggered back, and fell to her knees. Tears started to form in her eyes, if only from sheer shock from the carnage that unfolded before her. The gore had gotten on her as well, and she looked down to see her maid outfit splatted with red.

Rem was petrified, obviously quite disturbed by the macabre event. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were filled with turmoil.

Emilia had tears streamimg down her face, her eyes closed and her hands on her mouth, shaking her head from side to side.

Subaru had collapsed backwards during the ordeal and now was on the floor, staring at the hideous mess his friend had become.

The mass of crystals started creaking, then fell apart, releasing a large cloud of ash. It wafted upwards, lightly dissolving until there was nothing but a patch of blood and the sword, where Ash had been.

Subaru slowly came to understand his friend's last actions. He had pulled out his sword to leave it for him. Ash had kept his cool even in his last moments, and in that instant, Subaru vanquished any doubt about him. Death was truly nothing to him anymore, only an annoyance.

Anyone else would have panicked, but not him. And now he understood his wish. Like in a trance, Subaru stood and walked to the sword, sparing a glance at Ram, who looked up at him like a whipped puppy.

"I'm sorry."

He said softly, before picking up the sword. Until the last, a nagging thought occupied his mind. Did he really need to die? He could manage without Ash. He took a look around him, and saw the distraught expressions everyone had.

Deep down, he knew he couldn't go on. Ash was a stalwart, a safe haven. His troubles weren't over, and he needed a hand to get through them, he realized. And it didn't only apply to him. Ash had rapidly become an essential part of the household, being a reliable and trustworthy associate.

His death would have severe repercussions, and they may never go back to normality. Ash knew that too, otherwise he would never request such a great favor from him.

He picked up the sword, under everyone's terrified gaze. He rotated it until it was pointed backwards, and took a deep breath. When he was poised to deal the final blow, a final doubt crossed his mind. Was it really worth dying, feeling all that pain inflicted by his own hand? He waved it away. Yes, it was.

He plunged the blade deep in his chest, almost piercing his heart. Pain, pure, white-hot, blistering pain exploded from his chest throughout his entire body. A splurt of blood erupted from his mouth. His blood. He'd missed, and now his death would be drawn-out and painful. Scratch that.

Grabbing the hilt once again, Subaru started pulling upwards with great willpower, finally cleaving through the heart. He fell back, still clutching the sword, and died.

"So you did it, eh?"

"Never again, understood? Never. Again."

He tossed the sword in his hand at Ash, who caught it, twirled it a bit, then sheathed it.

"Sounds fair. Welcome back, kid. Now we have a larger task on hand. Say, what do you know about curses?"


	9. Chapter 7

"So you have no clue what's actually happening?"

"Nope. No idea of what a curse is or even how it works. How do you know anyway?"

Ash grimaced.

"Undead react in a peculiar way to curses. Different types of curses exist, but for us it's just that business with the crystals. Quite painful, I'll tell ya."

"You've experienced curses before?"

"In Lothric, the only way of judging something is dying to it. Curses are just another thing on the list of possible causes of death there."

"Sounds fun."

"As a fellow Unkindled once said to me, it's all fun and games until you get torn to shreds by a carnivorous chest."

"Huh."

"Jokes aside, curses are usually transmitted by air. However, only we have suffered from it. I don't know anything about this world's curses, so we might need to ask a few questions."

"You think Beako might know something?"

"She's the one who knows most about this world's magic. However, her library is difficult to access. Something with portals and alternate dimensions, whatever that means."

"Oh, you mean like this?"

Subaru pushed open a door, and on the other side was the massive library, complete with a flustered Beatrice angrily looking at the door.

"Now what do you want?"

"Hey, uh, Beako, we have something to ask you."

"You'd better make this good."

Ash stepped in to calm the fuming lady down.

"We have reasons to believe a curse-casting entity is close. The problem is, this world's curses are different from my own's. Basically, we need your help."

"Oh, so now you need help, eh? Remind me what you needed information on?"

"Curses. Anything you may know."

"And where does this curiosity come from?"

"I have... a hunch. Come on, let's hear it."

"Well, curses are known to be the uttermost expression of dark magic. Once activated, they cannot be reversed, but there is a period of... incubation, one might say."

"How are they cast? Are curses some kind of spell?"

"They are inflicted by breaking the skin, usually. What's going on, why all these questions?"

"As I said, a hunch. Thanks, Beako. You've helped enough."

Subaru enthusiastically patted the small lady on the head, earning a frown. Ash simply bowed with a wide smile, slightly putting Beatrice to rest.

"Curses are dangerous things. Don't get involved with them."

"Don't worry, I know."

Ash commented, a slightly dogged expression making its way on his face.

They left the room, and Subaru immediately began crunching the information.

"So we know that curses are inflicted through wounds."

"Yep. So in what occasions were we cut? I don't think the kitchenware has a cursing side effect."

"The way she said it, it sounded like, more than a cut, a..."

"A wound! But that something wounded us both."

"Curses don't take that long to have effect, as far as I know. A day would be way too long, so something cursed us in a few hours before our deaths, maximum."

"So what do you think?"

"I'm thinking the village. Whatever it was, it was probably there."

"It was the dog. It bit me in the village."

"You too? Indeed, I should have snapped the pest's neck when I had the chance."

"Dogs can curse in this world too?"

"Doesn't surprise me. We have to do something. Something that ends in a blade in that mutt's neck."

"You don't like dogs, don't you?"

Ash shot a withering glance at Subaru, which melted his grin at a terrifying pace.

"No, I guess not."

The knight lowered his head.

"Dogs just irritate me. That aside, our best course of operation is to wait for a moment when it's alone, then strike. We don't want to be known as puppykillers, do we?"

Subaru nodded silently. Him and Ash spent the next couple of days in a tense state, waiting for that fatal day. And it came. Although not as they predicted. Roswall had left the mansion, for an unknown reason. Work, he said. Yeah, right. In the meantime, he had left Emilia in chief of the household. That evening, however, things took a different turn.

Looking out of the window, Ash could see a villager desperately running towards the mansion. He looked distraught. Rem was quick to greet him at the front door. Ash and Subaru rushed to reach him.

"Please, you have to help! The kids..."

Ash took control of the situation, grabbing the man by the shoulders, earning a frown from Rem.

"What about the kids? What happened? Spit it out!"

"The barrier around the village was damaged, and the kids are gone! Please send help, we beg of you!"

The man was going hysterical on him. Ram and Emilia arrived at that moment.

"What's going on?"

"Lady Emilia, it seems we have a crisis on our hands. I'll take Subaru to take care of it, if he is willing."

"Oh, you're not leaving me behind!"

"Very well. Rem will go as well. Stay safe, guys. Please."

Both Subaru and Ash smiled.

"Rest assured, lady Emilia."

"Nothing can kill us."

They glanced at each other and dashed off like two young boys in a mischevious mood. Rem simply sighed, and after lightly bowing to the mistress, followed after them.

"Ash, what do you think?"

"Somehow, the pest has captured the children. Probably brought them back to its hole. In the forest, I reckon."

"What's our plan of action?"

Ash spared a glance at the kid.

"Get in, get our hands bloody, bring the kids back. Simple enough."

Rem somehow had caught up to the both of them.

"That doesn't sound like a plan."

"Any better ideas, miss?"

"Yours sounds more... efficient."

"Thanks. I worked on it."

"Hmmmm."

Meanwhile, they had arrived at the village. There was a small congregation of people holding torches in the town square, but they didn't look ready for a fight. They were terrified for their children. Ash disappeared behind a house, and came out fully armored in under twenty seconds, which impressed both Rem and Subaru.

"Chief, what can we do? Our kids are somewhere in the forest, probably scared out of their minds!"

"We need to stay calm, first of all. I have sent someone to ask Roswall for help."

"And here it is, name's Ash, I'm the reinforcements. Give me the rundown and point me in the right direction."

"Oh, I thought we'd recieve help more... numerous?"

"I'm better than any army, now, quick. Your kids' lives are on the line."

"Oh, yes. The barrier was damaged around that spot over there. We suspect they have been... taken out of there."

"That'll do, lass, that'll do. Rem, Subaru, follow my lead."

The trio sprinted off into the forest, leaving behind the perplexed villagers. Without breaking stride, Ash pulled out a distinctively curved sword out of thin air, and passed it to Subaru.

"Lest I forget, and you get yourself killed in a stupid manner. Even an untrained kid like you should know how to use a sword, eh?"

"Hey, I'm not that bad!"

"We'll see. Lady Rem, any preferences?"

"I already have what I need."

"Fine. I see a clearing up ahead. And a couple of... somethings."

As they burst in the clearing, the silhouettes revealed themselves to be two of the kids that had gone missing. They were lying on the ground, clearly unconscious. Ash kneeled and layed a hand on one of them.

"They're still alive. But whatever did this can't be far away."

Almost on cue, a loud bark was heard and a large black dog shot out of the bracken, clamping its jaws on Ash's neck.

"ASH!"

Subaru yelped out, as the dog firmly pinned down his friend. Ash was not amused.

"Bad..."

He slowly opened the beast's jaw, and placed his gauntlet in it.

"...dog!"

He then twisted his arm, snapping the beast's neck instantly. He stood up, massaging his own neck, taking care to cover the wounds with the armor's cloth.

"Ash, there's still someone missing! Petra is gone!"

"One of them?"

"I recognize them. Luka and Mild. Petra's still missing."

"Go then, I'll bring these two back."

"You're going alone?"

"I can handle myself. You focus on getting that girl back home."

Ash then picked up the two boys and stomped off back into the forest, leaving Rem and Subaru alone.

"Rem, you ready?"

"Yes. However, you are not."

The rattle of chains was heard for a moment, before Subaru's leg disappeared. His eyes widened and he fell back with a silent scream on his face.

"I don't know your motivations, or if the other guy is your ally, but your ride ends here."

"What... are you talking... about?"

Subaru managed to cough out.

"Your friend, Ash. Ram may have come to like him, but I have no doubt. Nobody could have survived that attack."

She bent down and picked Subaru's head up by the hair.

"I want you to tell me exactly what is your objective here. I already know who you're working for."

"Do tell me, because I have no clue either."

Subaru gasped out, retaining still a bit of his sass. This bit, however, evaporated when his hand detached itself from his arm.

"Enough joking around. I can smell the stench of the Witch on you."

The Witch? Emilia had mentioned her back in the capital. Apparently she had wiped out half the planet, or something like that. She was this world's bogeyman.

"Rem, I don't know anything about the Witch, I promise you. You already know I mean no harm."

As he panted this out, he grasped the sword he had been given, and tossed it aside.

"The last thing I want to do is hurt any of you. Come on, everything we've done together, was it all for nothing? Everything you taught me?"

He was halfway through his sentence when the chain dashed once more, carving out a massive gash in his neck. As Subaru painfully drowned in his own blood, Rem had an expression of only contempt, before disappearing into the forest.

"You talk too much."

This chapter has been a long time coming. Due to a combination of personal problems and a bad case of writer's block, I have been unable to progress this story. I deeply apologize and hope for your forgiveness. Unfortunately, new chapters will be released more sporadically, so a precise schedule I cannot provide. Every week or two is the timespan I would expect. Once again, sorry, and I hope this chapter satisfies you.


	10. Chapter 8

Ash was not happy. At all. Subaru wasn't either. As they raced towards the village with Rem in tow, both had lost the mischievous grin of the first time and had a rather gritty face on instead. They had maintained this mood since the restart.

"Rem attacked you?"

"She thinks I'm with the Witch, she was talking about some sort of smell."

"Well, that's another problem on our hands. Best we keep this going and handle one thing at a time, however."

"You sure? Can't we just talk it out now?"

"You're vulnerable, and for now almost defenceless. Easy pickings for anyone. Better I defuse her before you get hurt."

"Ash, I'm not sure about this."

"Neither am I, bud, but this is the best plan I have."

They finally reached the village. Ash disappeared again and reappeared fully kitted out for battle, and passed the sword over to Subaru, who waved it around with a few shards of his innate swagger.

"Don't do that. That thing is much more dangerous than you think."

"Really?"

"Scavenged from the depths of Carthus. That curve is the most dangerous part of it. Of course, that poison infusion doesn't help, so don't get cut, ok?"

Subaru lowered the blade sheepishly, and Ash gave him a phantom of a smile from behind his helmet. Then he remembered he couldn't see it, and nodded instead.

Rem decided to interject.

"Don't we have something to do here?"

"Righto. Let's go, then. This way!"

Leaving the villagers kind of stumped, the trio rushed off into the forest. Ash pointed towards the clearing, and closely followed by Subaru and Rem, burst into it, surprising something in the bracken, causing it to rustle loudly. Ash wasted no time in jumping in that bush, and for the next few seconds a loud scuffle was heard, ending with a yip. Ash emerged spattered in blood, and both Subaru and Rem decided to not anger him anytime soon.

"Subaru, you take the kids. Rem, you come with me to find the last girl."

"I can very well escort him-"

"No. You come with me. He can handle himself."

Subaru took this chance and, with the two boys firmly gripped, took off into the forest. Rem was not pleased.

"On whose authority do you think you act on? Do you even know what he is?"

"The Witch, isn't it?"

Rem was stumped.

"Exactly. And if you know who he works for, then who are you affiliated with?"

"Noone. I work on my own. But that's not important. That's why you were looking for Subaru that night. He was a problem, and you intended to eradicate him, right?"

"You... How..."

"I know lots of things, my dear lady. But let me tell you one thing. That kid is not your enemy, and neither am I. He is cursed by the Witch, not working with her."

Rem cocked her head, processing this new information. Ash held his breath, awaiting a response. This was a gambit, but should he pull it off, they wouldn't be troubled by her any longer.

"Cursed?"

"Indeed. The Witch marked him with a peculiar stench, forcing him to wander to this day, lest he incur the wrath of the monsters of this land."

"But when he came here, he couldn't even read. So when did the Witch curse him, exactly?"

Her hand tightened around a misteriously appeared chain, and Ash hastily tried to snuff her doubt.

"At some random point during our travels. To be honest, we don't know when. We only know the monsters started attacking more frequently and viciously, and we were informed of the nature of this only recently. It doesn't have any other effects, as far as we know."

"Hmmm."

"Look, the kid's a bit dumb and rash, but he's not malicious. He's one of the kindest people I have met, and I trust him."

"Very well, then. For now I shall believe you. Still, there's the girl we're supposed to save, so let's move."

Ash wasted no time, and started following the recently butchered dog's trail. Paw prints, and not only its. This was a pack. The knight and the maid picked up the pace, steaming through the forest until they reached another clearing.

Bingo. Lying on the ground was the frail figure of the little Petra. Around her were multiple specimens of the dog Ash had eliminated before, and perched on top of a rock like a vulture, the puppy.

Not wasting any time, Ash pulled another of his tricks, somehow extracting a massive brass hammer out of his pocket, with which he started strategically deleting the angry canines. Rem didn't break stride and grabbed the little girl, dashing back off into the forest. Ash looked back at the escaping maid before turning on the rabid horde.

"Now the real fun starts."

Rem was once again blazing through the forest like a freight train, until she heard the sounds of conflict on her right. She decided to investigate quickly and came across Subaru, nervously stepping away from a secondary pack of wolves. With her free hand she grabbed her Morningstar and pasted one of them, before turning to Subaru.

"Where are the kids?"

"Back at the village. I was coming back to help you."

"You want to help? Grab her."

And she tossed Petra in Subaru's arms.

"Wha?"

Rem didn't answer, and resumed turning canines into small puddles. Subaru sighed and ran off towards the village to put Petra down. When he finally reached it, out of breath, Ram and Emilia were there waiting for him in the square.

"What's going on? Why is everyone so panicky?"

"Barrier's down. Some kids got abducted, but they're safe now."

He left the unconscious girl in the hands of a man, her father.

"Thank you so much! We've been worried sick! But where are your associates?"

"They're still in there. I have to help them!"

He started towards the forest for the third time, but Ram was quick on the intercept.

"Rem's in there? I'm coming with you."

Subaru could see by her expression that she wouls not take no for an answer. He sighed and started running.

Ash wasn't exactly having a good time. In a manner quite similar to Aldrich's followers, the Deacons of the Deep, the wolves just didn't stop coming. The puppy was looking on, with a feral smugness he didn't know a dog could convey. Sure, he was used to rotting bags of bones and skin, but he knew it was unnatural enough. Animals shouldn't be that happy to see him slaughtered.

He had lost the massive hammer, and was now bent on fighting with the greatsword he had plundered from the two guys in Farron Swamp. Ash gritted his teeth and started another quick rotation. Like a ballerina of death, he spun rapidly with the blade on his shoulder, slashing anything that got too close.

He knew he couldn't fight forever. Sooner or later he would make a mistake, and that would be the end of it. Regaining his footing, he drew a deep breath, more to calm himself more than everything else, then flew sideways as an unidentified something smashed into him from the side. Spiky and spherical. Rapidly jumping to his feet, Ash could see Rem standing in front of him, her head lowered.

"You do realize I'm not your target, right?"

He fell silent as he noted the horn on her head. When she finally raised her head, her face was one of a person gone mad. She started cackling and cracking her chain-ball like a whip.

"Oya, guess I have to do this too."

Ash raised his greatsword and stretched his leg, in an awaiting position, ideal for intercepting anything headed his way. A quick glance across the battlefield confirmed that reinforcements had finally ran out, but that one little bundle of hatred was still perched on top of that rock, gleefully observing the new turn of events.

Rem did not waste her chance, and in a flash, burned through the distance separating them, slashing diagonally at Ash's torso. His massive blade descended, and deflected the blow, and leaped forward, towards his opponent's legs. She sidestepped, however, and didn't leave him any chance of harming her.

The heavy Morningstar whipped back around, and Ash only barely dodged the main ball, earning a long gash in his leg. That would leave a scar, but hey, one to add to the pile. At that moment, almost on cue, Subaru and Ram burst from the bracken.

"Ash!"

"Subaru, my friend! Care to tell me why my supposed colleague is currently trying to kill me?"

Ram butted in before Subaru could respond.

"She's gone mad from the demonic power within her. She doesn't recognize just about anyone at the moment."

Ash dodged another close call, then one more for good measure.

"Doesn't look very demonic to me. That aside, any idea how to stop her?"

"You need to hit the horn, hard. Without breaking her skull, please."

That last part, even if it sounded like a joke, had a small whimpering sound to it that convinced Ash of the opposite. She was her sister after all, so it made sense. He gripped his weapon, recalculating and changing his strategy. He was fighting an opponent he didn't want to fight, during another quite critical situation, and he wasn't allowed to kill her. Great.

He spared a quick glance at Subaru, who stood next to Ram, with his curved sword still in hand. He made up a new plan.

"Subaru, how are you with that sword?"

"Not very good, you should know."

"Can you at least whack things?"

"Yes?"

Ash didn't answer, and this time leaped towards Rem, tackling her in a crushing bearhug. He felt her breath being squeezed out with a loud wheeze as he pushed her on the ground, winding her completely. Subaru finally realized his role, and sprinted towards the two. He then raised his sword, and plunged it.

Rem was on the ground, unconscious. Her horn had disappeared, and she almost looked peaceful. Ram was kneeling on the ground next to her, looking up at the duo with a hard expression.

"End this."

Ash stepped up, and pointed at the puppy, now holding a mildly bemused expression.

"You've done quite enough. Now die."

The small dog went still, then ejected a large cloud of smoke, covering the entire clearing. Ash stood his ground, unflinching. When the smoke cleared, the minute puppy had turned into a massive wolf, at least ten times the size of the others. A large shit-eating grin popped on Ash's face.

"Finally. An actual boss around here. Let's have some fun before I get rusty."

He pulled his feet together, then raised his sword in a ritualistic gesture, as if presenting his weapon to his adversary. The giant canine surprisingly seemed to understand the gesture and flexed his front legs, in a mocking bow.

"Good, good. Now let's get to business."

Ash opened the dance, flinging himself forward, under the beast's legs and whirling around, opening a gash on each of the monster's legs. The dog roared, and jumped back, biting down to where Ash would be. Unfortunately, the warrior expected this sort of move, and the wolf's teeth met the sharp metal of the large blade.

With a snap and a howl, one of the beast's canines flew off. The monster huddled down, and Ash readied himself for a mad charge. Instead, the wolf flicked his paw on the ground, sending a cloud of dust into Ash's face. Even if his eyes wouldn't be damaged, the dust still obstructed his vision, so he didn't see the attack coming from above.

With one move, the beast bit down on Ash's body, lifting him up and shaking him a few times, before chucking him into a tree, lodging him inside it like a nail through a plank. Subaru gasped, and got the large wolf's attention. It started charging, and Subaru very nearly dodged the incoming fangs. He desperately hacked away with his sword, earning a yelp and a retreat from the beast.

He had opened a few new wounds in the front leg and now the wolf was limping. Ash, while still stuck in the tree, managed to fix himself to watch the ongoing fight.

"WHEN HE ATTACKS, AIM FOR THE CHEST! HE'LL LOWER HIS BALANCE WITH THAT WOUND!"

Subaru managed to catch his words, even through the whining of the wolf. As soon as it started moving towards him again, he knew what to do. He lunged forward with all his strength and... sank his sword deep in the monster's chest. He backpedalled, watching as the beast collapsed.

"Is it dead? Did I kill it?"

Almost on cue, the massive predator started picking himself up, and the last shred of hope Subaru had flickered out of existence like a candle. He was unarmed, defenseless, and he had made his enormous enemy very angry. He could hear the blood thundering in his ears hard, and started seeing spots in his vision. This wasn't fear anymore. This was pure terror.

He was so afraid, he almost didn't notice when the entire body of the wolf exploded, and Roswall landed in front of him.

"You did a fine job, Subaru. Thank you for that."

"H-Huh?"

"I said, you did a fine job while I was away. Do you need it repeated for a third time? Where's your friend, by the way? He deserves my thanks as much as you."

"He's over there. He deserves thanks much more than I do, he did all the work."

Ash had gotten himself out of the tree, and was hobbling towards them.

"Good job, kid. You did well enough, for your condition."

"And you, my dear knight. Subaru here says you did all the heavy lifting."

"I did my duty. No need for flattery."

"Oh, come on. Give yourself a little credit. And don't overwork yourself, you're getting wrinkles."

Ash's unbeating heart froze.

"Come again?"

"You're getting wrinkles. On your face. They weren't there before. Are you sure you're keeping yourself up properly? I don't want to be known as an abusive master."

Now it was Ash's turn to be filled with terror. His honed mind made the connection. He was going Hollow. And for the first time in recorded history, an Undead actually fainted from pure fear.


	11. Chapter 9

He was standing on a plain. The sky was cloudless, and a deep crimson. There was light, but no sun. As Ash looked down, he noticed with a tinge of horror that he was standing on a sea of corpses. All his own. He lifted his right foot, and under it was his face, contracted in a silent scream of pain.

He heard a noise, and looked up. In front of him, but not facing him, was a figure. Ash slowly observed his gear. A Lothric shield, filled with marks and cracks, with the lower portion that looked like it just rotted off. A sword, at least once, was now a miserable hilt. His armor was ruined, the cloth torn and tattered, and the helmet was broken and scarred, clearly missing its visor.

The figure started turning around. As he finished turning, Ash sucked in his breath. It was himself, but at the same time, it wasn't. The wrinkled skin, the black gaping eyes gave away his Hollowness. It started walking towards him, and Ash felt his hand lift his sword. The Hollow stopped right in front of him, and slowly started to raise its hand.

Ash didn't waste time, and sunk the blade deep in the Hollow's chest. It looked down, slowly, then drew out a muffled scream, and collapsed backwards. As soon as it hit the ground, everything disappeared, and Ash was plunged in complete darkness.

He awoke in a bed, back in the mansion, and Subaru was asleep next to him. Ash shifted slightly, and pulled himself up, tapping Subaru on the shoulder. At this, Subaru woke with a start.

"Oy. Fancy seeing you here."

"You've been out cold for quite a while. Made us worry. Glad you still have that sharp tongue of yours."

Subaru erupted in a grin, but it didn't last long. He leaned forward with a worried look on his face.

"Are you ok, Ash? You just panicked and blacked out back in the forest three days ago, and haven't woken since. Is something happening?"

"Subaru, I'll ask you a question. Do I really have wrinkles?"

Subaru leaned forward even more and squinted, examining his face.

"Just a hint. Roswall's got a keen eye."

Ash ruminated on this information. Why was he Hollowing? Unkindled weren't supposed to Hollow. Their purpouse was to rekindle the First Flame, so they couldn't go Hollow by normal means...

Ash's brow furrowed. It was the Flame. His whole reason to exist was the Flame, but that had gone out. He had made sure of it. The implications hit him like a ton of bricks. By extinguishing the Flame, he had signed his death warrant.

"Ash?"

The knight realized he was clenching his fists hard. He raised his head, and opted for the sincere approach.

"I haven't got a lot of time left. My curse is progressing."

"The curse? But we killed all of the beasts in the forest!"

"Different kind, intrinsec to my being. Nothing you can do can reverse or lift it, so don't even bother. But I'm still in the game, don't worry."

"There must be something we can do!"

"Drop it! I'm still a long way off from suffering from its effects, so just drop it."

Subaru looked hurt for a moment, but hid his feelings as fast as they came out.

"I'm just worried about you, man."

"No need, friend. It'll take eternity before I submit to a pitiful curse!"

Ash patted Subaru on the shoulder, and chuckled heartily. Emilia came in the room, looking flustered.

"Ash! You've finally woken up! We were starting to seriously worry, you know?"

"Don't worry about a thing, Mistress. Nothing can kill ol' Ash. That's a guarantee."

Emilia pouted for a second.

"If you say so. Anyway, I was hoping you'd wake up soon. We're heading out in a few hours, so get yourself together."

In front of the mansion, Subaru and Ash were standing in front of a carriage. Rem was sitting on the front, holding two reins that lead to a massive dragon-like animal, patiently awaiting orders.

"You've overslept."

"Just a mite tired, lass. Back in action now."

Emilia hurried out, and gestured to Subaru to hop on next to Rem. He did so, if ever unwilling, but the maid just gave him a small smile. Ash, however, was directed into the carriage with her. As he clambered in, Subaru gave him a forlorn look, clearly not pleased with this. Ash shrugged, and gave him a thumbs up, before disappearing inside. As Emilia climbed in, the knight extended a hand to help her in and closed the door. And with that, they were off.

"Sorry for the rushed wake up. We just were about to depart, and you weren't conscious yet."

"Oh, I take no problem. I should probably apologize for sleeping on the job, after all."

"Don't say that, you did your job when you helped eliminate those monsters in the village."

"Still, I used to be better than that. That was honestly shameful, by my standards."

"You judge yourself too harshly, Ash. What you did was something not many could do. You fought against a powerful monster without a second thought. You're a valuable asset to all of us."

"So you say. Still, back in the old days-"

"About that. Ash, I want you to know I trust you. After that night, I don't doubt your loyalty. But I heard you and Subaru talk earlier. Are you really affected by a curse?"

"Oh, by the Sun. Yes, I am. I do, in fact, suffer from a curse."

"Don't worry about that. We're going back to the capital to get you two patched up, among the other things, and the person we're leaving you two to knows how to dispel even the worst curses!"

"Emilia, you trust me, so I am not going to lie to you. But your contact cannot dispel my curse, nor anyone else. It is futile to try."

"Why are you saying this? I can't leave my people in danger!"

"You don't need to worry about the curse. It'll take a long time for it to affect me, so just leave it at that."

Emilia recoiled, looking hurt. She then leaned forward, putting her hands on Ash's.

"I don't want to see you or Subaru hurt, do you understand? At least tell me what this curse does, don't make me suffer without knowing what will happen to you."

Ash pursed his lips, then sighed.

"At first, it won't do anything. But as time goes on, I'll slowly start to decay. My faint wrinkles are just a taste of what's to come. My eyes will sink, my skin will atrophy and I'll end up looking like a corpse. Accompanying this, my mental health will slowly decay alongside my physical form. My thoughts will progressively slow and get confused, until in the end my whole being will be lost, leaving me a feral, aggressive husk."

Emilia had leaned back, but now had her hands over her face.

"I've seen plenty of other cursed, in various stages. Most have gone through the entire cycle and have lost their humanity. Us sane folk call, nay, called them Hollows. It's sad, but we can't do anything about it. I was spared this fate, while I had my mission. Subaru probably told you, but I was tasked with relighting a Flame, an old, old Flame linked to my world. I was an Unkindled. But now the Flame is but ash, so I suppose this is only natural."

He stopped as he saw Emilia's shoulders quiver, and noticed the tears flowing from under her hands.

"I... just don't want... to see you hurt! You're... You don't deserve this!"

Ash leaned back, and sighed deeply.

"It'll be ok, Emilia. Everything is going to be ok. Trust me."

Emilia slowly lowered her hands, and gave him a smile.

"Yes!"

Meanwhile, on the front of the carriage, Subaru was peacefully enjoying the warm sunlight and the fresh wind flowing over them. Rem looked focused on the road, so Subaru almost didn't catch what she said.

"Subaru, can I trust you?"

"Wha-What?" Yeah, yeah, of course! Why?"

"You saved me back in the forest. You stopped me from going completely berserk, I'm in debt with you for that."

"No, that was all Ash, he did all the work."

"That wasn't what Ram told me. You both helped me in my time of need. I'm indebted to both of you."

"But-"

Rem silenced Subaru by planting a finger on his lips, shutting down his response, before cocking her head and showing a smile.

"Thank you, Subaru. I really appreciate what you did for me."

At this, Subaru blushed and turned his head, while Rem giggled and went back to minding the carriage.

* * *

This is admittedly a weaker chapter, as it serves mostly as an intermission and a mite of character buliding. I hope you will understand. The next arc will start next chapter.


End file.
